3 Leap Years

In January of 2000 I started talking to this really great guy. I knew him from high school but we didn't really hang out much then. Actually, our Freshman year of high school we were both in JROTC and he asked me to the military ball that year. I remember my grandma taking me to buy a dress and to get my hair done. I looked amazing for a dorky 15yr old with Koolaid streaks in her hair. My date was pretty dorky too... and I have the picture to prove it! However, he ended up getting a girlfriend just two weeks prior to the ball and while he still took me, I didn't see him all night.

Anyway, we started hanging out a lot right around my 19th birthday. And while we were just friends, we flirted a lot. We teased each other (I joked that he should be my boyfriend), we looked out for each other (I asked him to tag along on my blind date, just in case LoL) and we even held hands during a scary movie (Scream 3, yes I am a chicken!). Even with all that, I still was not really interested in him as a boyfriend. He was a great friend and a great guy but my heart belonged to someone else.

A month or so later my heart was broken. The guy I liked, that I thought liked me, just wasn't interested. I was reading all the signs wrong and I was the only one that didn't see he was not the one for me. I was the only one that couldn't see what was right there in front of me. That guy that chaperoned my crazy date... that guy that held my hand when I was scared... that guy that I joked with on a daily basis.

So on the night of February 28th, as we all sat around the apartment having a great time, I finally admitted to a friend that I might like him more than just a friend. She then took it upon herself to push us together... literally. She pushed me into his lap as I got close to him. I still wasn't sure if this was right. Yes, he was amazing. Yes, he was a great friend. I just didn't know where I wanted it to go. He made that easy though.

Sometime after midnight he asked me if I would go on a date with him. He wanted me to be his date to the military ball! 5 years after the last ball he ditched me at and now he wanted to take me to another. I laughed. Was he serious? I didn't want to be made a fool of again, so I said, "I don't know. Depends if you are going to get another girlfriend before the ball." And being quick witted and oh so smooth, he responded with, "Well what if my girlfriend is you?" How do you say no to that?! YOU CAN'T! And I didn't.

On that leap year in 2000 I became his date to another military ball... and I also became his girlfriend. Who would have known that 12 years later we would still be telling this story? Still debating over who ditched who at that first military ball. Still laughing about me joking about being his girlfriend. If you asked me 12 years ago where I would be today I don't think I would have said married to the boy who ditched me at a high school dance. Yet here we are. Happily married for almost 10 years, together for 12 and 5 kids, 2 dogs and 3 states later.

Through the good, the bad, the funny and the sad, I love you more than words can say. I cannot imagine what my life would be without you in it. Happy 3rd Leap-iversary, John C. Whitehead!